Monday, July 23, 2018

When One Needs Soil Testing Ventura County Deserves Priority Consideration

By Stephanie Carter


Anyone involved in production of crops and other activities that require soil management knows the importance of soil testing. When managing the quantity of nutrients, soil testing is an important undertaking. The activity is carried out by removing chemical nutrients from samples of soils then determining their quality by measuring. Once these test are carried out it is easy to determine more information about the soil. When in need of Soil Testing Ventura County needs to be checked out.

This test is depended upon by both the large scale and small scale farmers in making their profits. This is done on those farms that depend mainly on commercial fertilizers as the main source of nutrients. It would be difficult planning for money-making use of fertilizers without analyzing the land first. When people skip the process, they are prone to making risks that lead to blind losses since the analysis acts as a guide.

As stated earlier, soil analysis does not only apply in crop production but also in livestock farms. It is necessary to know the amount of nutrients in the soil when it comes to livestock farms. For this reason one is able to plan the activities of the farm in line with the data collected. The data collected makes nutrients produced on the farm and those imported easily manageable.

Testing is performed in three stages which are collecting samples, analyzing the samples and analyzing the results. Electronic media can simplify the large amount of paper work that is required to effectively handle and maintain these stages. Keeping records is necessary for the reason of knowing whether the nutrients are increasing, decreasing or maintaining the same level.

The question mostly asked is how frequently the test should be done. Since many people ask this question, it is easy to conclude that many people have no idea of how regularly they should have the soils tested. Sample analysis should be done when one is applying fertilizer or when they first notice problems in plant growth.

The recommended frequency is once a year, although this can be raised when problems are realized. The idea time for collecting samples is a month or two to planting season. Despite this, samples can be collected throughout the year. However, for summer crops, the best time for sample collection is in early spring. As for winter and fall crops, the best time is during summer.

Due to ignorance, some people believe samples cannot be collected when the ground is wet. This is however not true since soil moisture does not affect the results of the sample since it is first dried before being analyzed. The only challenge with extremely wet soils is that collecting and mixing can be difficult. For this reason, it is advisable to drain soils before sampling them.

In conclusion, one has to ensure that the right depth is attained when sampling. Fifteen centimeters is the preferred depth for sampling. This depth is suitable because it is where most plants have their roots. Tillage mixes nutrients to a depth of about fifteen centimeters also. Achieving that depth can be problematic if the ground is too dry.




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